


Lines Crossed

by Providence26



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-30
Updated: 2018-01-30
Packaged: 2019-03-11 12:44:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13524522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Providence26/pseuds/Providence26
Summary: A/N - > for the purpose of this story Zapata and Witsec never happened. Elliott is single and timelines are suspended. If you are a stickler for canon then you will hate this and probably shouldn’t read it. Also, Elliott isn’t a great guy in this so…if that is going to be a problem for you then you probably shouldn’t read it.Also, as some of you have seen I have recently had my heart broken, so my views on love and fidelity have been shaken, and may have tainted my writing somewhat, but wanted to get back in the saddle as it were, and this is the result of writing fanfic with a shattered/betrayed heart, so I’m a bit rusty. Not sorry for the dramatics or lack of happy ending - but I am working on my Cabot Cove story - which will have a happy ending.





	1. Chapter 1

Olivia Benson shifted her weight yet again and tried flexing the muscles in her legs with the limited amount of legroom she had. It had been three hours since she had had any feeling in her butt cheeks. She would have to remember to avoid rubbing them back to life when she got out of the car. Elliott would enjoy that too much. They were 5 hours into their turn on stake out duty. They had sat mostly in silence after she had grown weary of of Elliott’s choice of conversation topics, her crush on their ADA, Alex Cabot.

His advice had been to tell her. He didn’t understand why it wasn’t that simple for her, why she was being cautious. Olivia usually approached women with a whatever will be will be attitude. Never caring if she was turned down.  
Alex was different.  
This was not something that could merely be a fling or purely sexual. Olivia admired Alex, respected her, and cared deeply for her. This time there were actual emotions involved. Olivia believed that Alex could be The One. This meant she had to approach this just right, not blow it before they even got a chance.  
Elliott was right about one thing though, she needed to make a move sooner rather than later.

Three days later, Elliott was the last one left in the squad room when Alex Cabot walked in.

“Hey Elliott, all alone?”

“Oh, yeah, our latest case drew the attention of the Feds, Liv is having a meeting with one of them, a Dana Lewis?”

“Never heard of her.”

“Did you need Liv for something? Maybe I can help.”

“No, it’s okay. I just wanted to see if she wanted to go for a drink.”

“Well I can definitely help you with that. I’m no Liv, but I can be her substitute for the evening.”

Alex hesitated, she didn’t dislike Elliott but wasn’t interested in him either. But he was Liv’s partner, if she wanted to get closer to Liv befriending Elliott could only help.

 

 

“She’s so beautiful, “ Alex slurred, she was several glasses of wine into the evening and had managed to get many stories and bits of trivia about Olivia out of Elliott. Everything she heard just made her fall deeper for her. He’d let slip earlier that Liv had a crush on her, she now felt confident that should she make a move, she wouldn’t be rebuffed.

It was cold this early in the morning, or the butt crack of dawn as she liked to think of it. She and Elliott were due for an early trip to Long Island to talk to a witness. Elliott would usually be up, ready and waiting for her by his car with a cup of coffee for each of them. Not seeing him she decided to head up to his place and see if he was running late, she could always make the coffee, her coffee was better than his attempts anyway.

“Hey El, you up yet?” Liv called as she let herself in.

No answer. She decided to see if he was even out of bed yet, given the silence of his apartment she suspected not.  
Walking to the open door of his bedroom she saw he had had company last night. Usually the sight of a naked woman in his bed would make her turn away to ensure their privacy, but something about the woman made her take a closer look at her face.

“Alex,” she breathed. She turned around and walked straight out of the apartment, making two phonecalls on her way.

 

Alex started awake at the slam of a door.

“Oh God.” _Why did she feel so awful, and where the hell was she?_ She must have had a skin full of alcohol to not remember last night, she rolled over, spotting Elliott.

“Oh hell no! Shit!.” This was bad. She quickly gathered her clothes, dressed as fast as she could and left. Hopefully Elliott wouldn’t remember what had happened either.

Elliott eventually stumbled into work four hours late, he may have looked presentable but he felt like a shrivelled scrotum. He had been supposed to go with Liv to interview a witness. He guessed from her absence that she had gone without him.

 

 

“Yo, Stabler, there’s the info from your witness, Liv asked me to pass it along.”

“Thanks, where is she?”

“She had another meeting with Dana Lewis, she’s due back later.”

Hours later Elliott looked up to see Alex Cabot walk in, looking for Olivia again no doubt. Their eyes briefly met, but Alex looked away quickly.

“Cabot.”

“Stabler.”

Elliott, had an awful, sinking feeling that he had said or done something, but he really couldn’t remember what, just that he had woken up with the worst hangover of his life.

“Is Olivia around?”

“We’re expecting her back at any moment.”

“Well, I’ll just go and update Don while I wait.”

Elliott just nodded, hoping he hadn’t done something too embarrassing or offensive.

His words must have been prophetic, no sooner had Alex closed Cragen’s door than Olivia walked into the squadroom.

“Hey Liv, sorry about this morning, I drank way too much last night, woke up with a bitch of a hangover.”

Olivia just raise one eyebrow and looked towards Cragen’s office, she needed to speak to him.

“You okay, Liv?”

“Fine.”

Elliott didn’t know a hell of a lot about women, but he knew the word fine meant the exact opposite. He was going to wait this out and see if he could figure out exactly what was wrong.

Olivia addressed Fin and Munch, “Have they been in there long? I need to talk to him.”

“A couple of minutes.”

“Oh.” Deflated, Olivia took off her jacket and got stuck into her paperwork.

“Well that about covers everything Don, I just need a minute or two of Liv’s time and I will be out of your hair.”

Cragen raised an eyebrow.

“So to speak. Sorry, it’s been a long day.”

“Don’t worry Alex, I knew what you meant. Try and have a relaxing evening, you’ve earned it.”

Alex exited his office and saw Olivia was finally at her desk, she hadn’t seen Olivia in two days and had missed her more than she could have realized. She knew she was in deep when Olivia’s absence was missed this much, and they weren’t even dating yet.  
Alex smiled to herself at that, if what Elliott said yesterday evening was true, it would be a mere formality to ask Olivia out.  
Elliott. Ugh, what a mistake that was. She had already vowed never to drink that much again.

“Hi Olivia, do you have a few minutes?!

“Not right now, I need to speak with Cragen.”

Olivia walked straight past Alex, making what seemed like a concerted effort to neither look at or brush by Alex.

“Afterwards then?”

“Fine.” Had Elliott said something to Olivia?

Alex turned to him, “What did you say to her?”

“Nothing, I haven’t seen her all day and she barely spoke to me when she got back.”

 

 

“Are you sure you want to do this Liv?”

“I’m sure.”

“I’m going to miss you. Not just as an outstanding detective, but as a friend. Can I talk you out of it?”

“No. I need to do this.”

“It is admirable you feel so strongly about this.”

He saw her waiver. “Why are you really doing this?”

Olivia shook her head, she refused to let the tears fall.

“Whatever you tell me will remain between us, Olivia.”  


“I can’t trust Elliott anymore and I need to get away from him.”

“Tell me.”

Olivia did. Every encouraging word he had said to push her in Alex’s direction right up to finding them naked in bed together.

“Whenever you want to come back, you just say the word. I’ll find a partner for you.”

“Thanks, Cap.”

 

To Olivia’s surprise Alex was sat at her desk waiting for her.

Alex looked up and smiled at Liv, her smile faltering when she saw signs that Liv had recently been crying. She placed a hand on Liv’s arm, “You okay?”

Olivia pulled her arm away and said, “You wanted a word? Let’s go in the interrogation room.”

“I was thinking more over coffee or dinner.”

“I have a lot of paperwork to get through before tomorrow, so this is your only option.”

“I guess I’ll take it then,” Alex replied, confused, but following.

“So what can I help you with?”

“Well, I was hoping you would agree to let me take you for dinner one night.”

“I think that would be a really bad idea.”

Shocked, Alex blurted, “Why? I thought you liked me?”

“I did. But Elliott is my partner. We don’t share women.”

“What?” _Oh God._

“It happened one time before, purely coincidentally, I dated an ex of his. It caused problems. So we have an agreement. We don’t step where the other has been.”

“Elliott and I, we’re not…”

“I saw you.”

“What?”

“This morning. I saw you naked in his bed.”

“It was a mistake. We were so drunk. I came by last night to see if you were free, but you had already left. We went for a drink and we spoke about you all night.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better? That talking about me was your foreplay?”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to. I don’t even remember it.”

“It doesn’t matter now anyway.”

“Why?”

“I’m going undercover from tomorrow.”

“How long?”

“At least a year, but probably longer.”

“So that’s it? That’s my chance gone?”

Olivia shrugged.

“Elliott said you had fallen for me.”

“I had. But seeing you naked in his bed helped me get back up.”

“Don’t you think you are over reacting?”

“It is what it is, Alex.”

Olivia gave Alex a small nod before going to leave the room. She paused at the door, “Oh Alex?”

Alex looked up.

“You’re going to want to get tested, he’ll stick it anywhere.”

Determined not to cry in front of the squad, Alex walked straight out of the squad room, once outside she fished her phone from her purse, “Liz, can we talk?”

 

 

“Elliott, a word.” Cragen called from his doorway.

Munch and Fin looked over, “What did you do?”

“No idea, I haven’t even taken my jacket off yet.”

 

“Sit down.”

“Sir?”

“You are going to be riding desk today..”

“What? Why?”

“Quiet. Olivia has accepted an offer to go U/C, we are waiting for a new partner for you. I got a call from Donnelly this morning too, Alex is transferring to Homicide.”

Don watched confusion turn to comprehension on Elliott’s face.

“I am going to say this to you one time, Elliott. Do not choose your bed partners from the squad or DA’s office. It’s too messy. I’ve lost the best ADA we’ve ever had and my best detective over this. If I had been given the option, I would have transferred you. If your sexual activities impact this unit ever again, you’re gone. Do I make myself clear?”


	2. Chapter 2

“Come on Alex, you’ve got to eat.”

“Serena, if I agree to dinner will you stop harassing me?”

“Sure, well for today at least.”

“Fine.” An exasperated Alex Cabot started packing up her files, there was nothing more she could do to prepare for her appearance in court the following day, she knew the files forwards and backwards, there would be no surprises, Thomas Hiscock would be getting life without parole.

“Let’s go, do your worst.”

“Oh Alex, don’t be like that, it will be a nice civilized dinner with your bestie.”

Alex frowned at the term making Serena laugh at her. "You need to lighten up Alex. Get out there, meet some women, have some fun.“

Serena stated the same arguments she had been given Alex for months, it had been well over a year and half since Alex’s attempts at wooing Olivia Benson had derailed after Alex had drunkenly slept with Benson’s partner. Serena knew how deeply Alex had fallen for Olivia, knew how deeply she was still in love with her, but Benson had gone undercover in an attempt to get away from both Stabler and Alex. Alex had also runaway in her own way, transferring to Homicide, so the absence of Olivia and the reminder of Elliott would not be so prominent in her daily life. It had only worked up to a point, she had spent so much time building up a picture of the perfect life with Olivia that her absence was felt keenly every moment. She missed her laugh, the way that her eyes encouraged all Alex’s deeply buried emotions and secrets to the surface, to be laid bare in front of Olivia’s compassionate gaze. Alex had not for a moment stopped wanting Olivia, the vision that she had built up in her head was so real to her that she could almost touch it. She wasn’t ready to give up on it. It was that simple for her, and Serena’s subtle and then not so subtle prodding as time passed was not going to change that.  


 

Every Tuesday afternoon for months Serena would come to her office and demand Alex join her for dinner, it had almost become a ritual. They would go to one of the cop bars that their detectives frequented, they were both so well respected by their detectives that the others either left them alone or welcomed them, their conviction rates were the highest in the DA’s office and afforded them a place among ‘the guys’ rather than being on the opposing side, both had crossed the line on occasion to secure convictions against the worst that New York had to offer, which had afforded them even more respect.

“I’ll get the first round you get the seats, your usual?”

Alex nodded and made her way towards one of the few empty booths at the front. Being cops, the rest of the clientele had gravitated to the tables that gave them the best views of all exits.

Sitting among a room full of police officers set off two reactions in Alex, a feeling of being at home and safe, a feeling that Olivia had always evoked in her, and a feeling of being bereft. It was the most bittersweet feeling.

“Are you ready to order,” Serena asked as she set Alex’s drink in front of her, she had noticed Alex’s wistful expression. She had tried to get Alex to agree to other bars or restaurants, but had failed so many times that she gave up. This was as close as Alex could get to Olivia, and as much as she downplayed it, it was important for her to be here.

“Alex, we need to talk about Olivia.”

“I know what you are about to say Serena, how long it has been and I need to move on. But I’m not ready. Please stop pushing.”

Serena fiddled with the stem of her glass as she decided exactly how best to broach the news.

“It isn’t that, Sweetie.”

Serena opened her mouth to talk but struggled to find the best way to discuss it, this was not going to be easy and she had a feeling there was potential for Alex to get hurt even more, they had been friends for so long that she hated to see Alex hurt, even if it was her own doing.

“What is it? Tell me.”

Serena looked into the wine she had ordered not wanting to see Alex’s expression as she spoke.

“Olivia’s undercover operation finished two weeks ago, she is back in New York. There is talk of her going back to SVU, Stabler’s transferring.”

Serena finally looked up at Alex, she could see the emotions play out in her eyes even though she had her court room mask on.

“I have to talk to her, I have to go and see her.”

“Sweetie, no.” Serena gripped Alex’s hand to try and bring her back to the conversation. “Give her some space, let her settle.”

“I can’t do that Serena, it’s been too long. I can’t waste an opportunity, I have to see her.”

Serena nodded, and released Alex’s hand slowly. 

“Just remember though, you aren’t her favorite person, and the two of you hurt her deeply, Alex. She might not be ready to welcome you back.”

“I know. I do know that. If I don’t try though….”  


“She is back at her old place, go if you need to, I will wait up in case you need to talk afterwards.”

Alex just nodded at Serena and left. Serena watched her walk away, thinking about the almost imperceptible waver in Alex’s voice and how this might be a good time to stock up on ice cream and wine before going home.


End file.
